The Marauders: Masters of Mischief
by Death and Terror
Summary: The tale of Harry Potter begins with the legend of his father and the group of misfits who followed him around. The Marauders begin their first year of Hogwarts and forge a lifelong bond that could seemingly never be severed.
1. Hogwarts

The Marauders

Year 1: Masters of Mischief

Chapter One: Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

**James Potter**

James Potter stood on the threshold between the Hogwarts Express and Platform nine and three quarters. His mother and father waved proudly from the crowd behind him. They had gotten so excited when he received his letter that they all went off to Diagon Alley immediately, forgetting James at first. As he stepped onto the train and waved his final goodbyes, James wondered about what Hogwarts would be like. In his mind, there was an enormous, country-sized castle with people flying to and fro on broomsticks and people just floating in midair, talking to the people next to them.

It wasn't until he ran into somebody that he snapped out of the illusion. He collided rather harshly with a slim boy with greasy hair and a long nose. The other boy sneered at James and shoved him backward into yet another boy. The boy James was pushed into had deep, black hair that hung to his chin, and a relaxed face. He simply shoved James aside and punched the boy who'd pushed James first. He then helped James up and motioned for him to follow.

"I'm Sirius Black. Who're you?" Sirius only gave him an introduction as though nothing had happened. James rubbed his shoulder, as he'd hit it on a compartment wall in the push fight, and responded.

"James Potter," he said, and then he took a seat across from Sirius in the compartment he pulled open. One other boy was in there, but he didn't notice them over the book he was poring over.

"Ah, a Potter. My family's heard about your family. You haven't done much to make your name stand out, though, have you?" Sirius asked, looking curiously at the other passenger. "Who're you, eh?"

The boy looked up only for a moment, a little surprised by the sudden appearance of people, and then he pointed up into the luggage rack. There sat a brand new trunk with letters spelling out 'R. J. Lupin' inscribed on them. Sirius shrugged and looked in James' general direction.

"So, what d'you think it's gonna be like?" Sirius asked.

"Oh I dunno," James replied, "I'd guess something really brilliant from what I've heard, but I can't give many details. My parents didn't say much about it."

"Mine neither," Sirius said, looking over at Lupin, "and what about you?"

"My parents are… they haven't been available recently," Lupin looked up from his book with a blank stare towards Sirius.

"Dead? Sorry…" Sirius looked at his feet.

"Not exactly," Lupin answered, "just not available. They've been too busy."

"Mine too," James said, "except, they made some time for me. My dad works at the Ministry, and things have been getting a little out of hand recently. Some bloke named Voldemort's been making trouble… he hasn't told me anything important about it. 'Least I think it was Voldemort."

"I haven't heard of him," Lupin said, putting his book away to fully join the conversation.

"Me neither," Sirius said, "by the way, Lupin, what's R. J. stand for?"

"Remus J. I don't like people knowing my middle name," said Remus J. Lupin.

"Remus… mind if I call you Reems? Reemsy, perhaps?" Sirius asked playfully.

"Not if you want your face torn off," Remus replied simply.

"Alright then. Remus it is," Sirius raised his eyebrows and turned away from Remus. Just as he did, the compartment door slid open and a scrawny, brown-haired boy fell in. He was mousy and small with a thin face and beady little eyes. A tall, tan boy with short hair and a cold stare was revealed in the hallway with two large companions on either side.

"Have fun with your new friends, Pettigrew. Don't let me catch you trying to steal our sweets again, you poverty-ridden rat!" The boy sneered at little Pettigrew. James, Sirius, and Remus all stood up to defend him. Sirius shoved the blond boy into the opposite compartment, drawing his wand. The girls inside shrieked as James stepped in and lowered his wand to the boy's throat.

"Doesn't feel too good, does it?" James asked, "Now who are you to go around shoving people into compartments, eh?"

"I'm Jonathan Fierce! That's Dane, and over there's Mick, and that fat lard of a boy was stealing my sweets! I paid for them, and he doesn't deserve anything!" Jonathan spat in James' face, causing him to retaliate. The girls in the compartment had to pull James off of Jonathan, who was screaming in fear, which he soon hid. James was relatively untouched, but Jonathan had a black eye and a bloody nose.

"Jonathan, you're a bloody wimp!" James shoved him out of the car, "Get out of here." James noticed the three girls staring at him, "Hey, I'm James Potter!"

"You're full of yourself!" A redheaded girl with bright green eyes glared at him spitefully.

"Oh look, not even at Hogwarts and James has a fan!" Sirius clapped when James reentered the compartment. Remus had a large bruise on his arm, while Sirius was untouched like James.

"Thanks for sticking up for me," Pettigrew said meekly. He shrank into the seat beside Sirius.

"No problem, midget. That hopeless git had no right shoving you into _our_ compartment without permission. Even if you did steal his sweets." Sirius patted Pettigrew on the back proudly.

"I'm Peter, by the way… Peter Pettigrew," Peter smiled weakly and stared at his shoes. James just noticed that he was wearing hand-me-down clothes.

"We should probably get dressed in our robes. We'll be there soon," Remus pointed out the window to the ever-approaching station. Peter winced and gazed around nervously. Sirius grinned and looked at him.

"Don't worry Petey, we won't make fun of your tighty-whities. Promise." The compartment roared with laughter, including a nervous chuckle from Peter.

"It's not that, it's just…" Pettigrew frowned.

"Oh, don't worry. We won't make fun of you for that, either. We aren't cruel." James winked and stood up, pulling on a silky robe.

The Hogwarts Express pulled up to the Hogsmeade station in complete darkness, broken only by a single lamp raised high above James' head. The four new friends stared around in wonder and tried their best to stay together. The bustling crowd of taller students broke them up for a moment, but as soon as it thinned they found each other again, making their way towards the call of "Firs' years, this way." An enormous man of extraordinary girth stood ahead, holding a large lantern in his hands. James gasped in awe, along with several other students.

"Don't wet yourself now, Petey, it's just a giant. A half-giant, I think. They're much bigger," Sirius said, patting Pettigrew on the head. Peter pulled Sirius' hand off of his head and frowned, still staring at the half-giant.

"Firs' years, this way! Now, I am Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. You lot can jus' call me Hagrid. Now, we'll be takin' boats up ter the castle, so get in groups and shove off!" Hagrid smiled wide and led them down to a shore where, sure enough, several small boats were beached. Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter all got into the same boat and pushed off from the shore. The boats all seemed to guide themselves across the lake, which helped to ease their anxiety.

Across the way, they saw an enormous castle rise from the lake, or at least it appeared to, it was too dark to be sure. Hundreds of windows glowed a bright orange against the night, rivaling the stars in brightness. Peter leaned over the edge of the boat to catch a glimpse of the lake and fell over, prompting Sirius to leap in after him heroically. The two of them returned to the surface soon after, shivering with piercing cold. Sirius shot Peter a dark glare and then looked to Remus and James.

"W-w-when you r-r-retell this… c-c-could I b-b-be s-s-shirtless? M-m-muscular t-too…" Sirius glared at Peter again, then smiled. "C-c-cheer up you s-s-scrawny bastard…" The four chuckled quietly and listened to Sirius tell them exaggerations of what was under the water. Moments later they arrived on the other shore and followed a tall, sharp-looking woman up a path to the castle. She led them inside the main doors to the huge entrance hall, where she told them to wait.

"Here is where you will be sorted into your respective houses, where you will join students of similar characteristics. They will be your friends for the next seven years. Of course, inter-house relations are encouraged as well ("With that Jonathan git? Fat chance," James muttered to Sirius). Now, wait a moment while I go and prepare things." The woman disappeared into the hall, and James caught a glimpse of four tables filled with students who were chattering excitedly amongst themselves.

"So, this is where we go our separate ways," Sirius said sadly, "it was nice knowing you James, Peter, Reem-I mean, Remus."

"What are you talking about?" James asked.

"Well, the Black family is notorious for producing little spawns of Satan that get put in Slytherin. Remus here is probably a shoe-in for Ravenclaw, and Petey is most likely bound for Hufflepuff. Jimmy, you're Gryffindor material." Sirius shook hands with his friends and sighed, turning back around to face the music.

"Sirius…" Peter said, "She did say that inter-house relations are encouraged…"

"Be real Pete. We'll only see each other in passing or during double periods. That's not much. I'll see you," Sirius snapped back angrily at Peter, who hit him on the back of the head.

"Then stop being so negative! Who knows, maybe we'll all be in the same house! You can't know for sure!" Peter's face was drawn in anger.

"Wow, I didn't know you had it in you… people are staring Pete." Sirius looked around at the crowd, which had turned their heads in their direction and stopped talking. It was silent.

"What are you looking at? Can't you see they're having a row? Back to your pathetic lives," Remus said, waving them all away nonchalantly.

"You're right, Peter, I shouldn't be so negative. Maybe we'll get lucky…" Sirius sighed again and watched as the woman came back through the doors, beckoning them into the Great Hall.

The first years were all amazed at the beautiful room that they had just entered. Most were staring up at the enchanted ceiling in wonder, watching as clouds passed and stars glimmered above their heads. The woman they had followed told them all to line up and began to call names to sit on a stool.

**Sirius Black**

Sirius sighed for the fiftieth time in ten minutes. He had just met these people and he was going to be separated from them just as fast, all because his last name was 'Black'… a fit of anger rushed through Sirius' veins, as well as frustration, which he attempted to control.

"_Maybe Pete's right_," Sirius thought, "_maybe we will get lucky._"

"Black, Sirius!" The woman looked into the crowd, looking for a movement. Sirius obliged, stepping forward and plopping down on the small stool. The woman placed a tall, dusty old hat that was patched in several places onto his head.

"Sirius, m'boy!" came a voice in Sirius' head. "Such interesting qualities you have. Yes you're destined for greatness, I can see it now! I know just where to put you…"

"_If you say Slytherin I'll pull you apart, stitch by stitch._"

"I wasn't going to say that. Temper, temper. I'm well aware of your situation… so, I'll have to say… _Gryffindor!!!_" Applause erupted from the crowd and the woman moved towards him to take the hat. Sirius held up a hand to keep her back and pulled off the hat, turning it around so he could look it in the eyes.

"What'd you say?" he asked.

"Gryffindor!" He could've sworn he saw the hat wink before it went limp again. Sirius stood up, gave the woman the hat, and raised both arms in triumph.

"GRYFFINDOR!!!!" he shouted, gaining another round of cheering applause from the Gryffindor table. He went and found a relatively empty bench to sit at and waited for the ceremony to finish.

**Remus Lupin**

Remus began to breathe deeply as the names drew closer to 'L'. Sirius got lucky and broke the Black Family Curse, landing in Gryffindor rather than Slytherin, but he wasn't so sure he could escape Ravenclaw. He was far too intelligent for the house of courage and bravery. Lily Evans… Gryffindor… Heather Lockland… Hufflepuff…

"Lupin, Remus!" Remus flinched. It was his turn to try and change his fate. He shot the Gryffindor table a glance; Sirius was giving him a grin and a thumbs up. Remus managed a smile and a thumbs up in return, then he stalked up to the stool. On went the hat and Lupin began to hear a voice in the corner of his mind.

"Ah, a werewolf… sure you aren't endangering everyone?" it said, almost mockingly.

"_I'm damn sure! I won't hurt anyone!_" Lupin thought determinedly.

"Nice strength… good purpose… I'll have to say… _Gryffindor!!!_"

Remus stood up excitedly, staring at the line to where James and Peter were. They were clapping excitedly and motioning for him to go to the table with Sirius. He did just that. Sirius welcomed him warmly with a pat on the back and a friendly grin.

"Hello Reems! Oh, sorry, that one slipped… I'm excited, you know. Sorry," Sirius dropped his happy face and looked mistaken. Remus laughed and patted him on the back.

"I'll let that one slide!" They both grinned and wished good luck for James and Peter.

**Peter Pettigrew**

Peter smiled at his good fortune. He was almost sure that he would be in Gryffindor now, and if he was in Gryffindor they all would be, because there was no doubt that James would be a Gryffindor.

"Pettigrew, Peter!" Peter walked up to the stool and sat down. The hat fell over his eyes and began to speak.

"You stick up for yourself, Petey, that's admirable. You owe that Black your life… hm… I suppose I should say… _Gryffindor!!!_"

Peter stood up proudly and strode over to the Gryffindor table, sitting across from Sirius and Remus, where he received the best welcoming he'd ever gotten.

**James Potter**

James wasn't thinking anything… except for "Wow, that girl is pretty." He was staring at Lily Evans at the Gryffindor table, who was sitting four seats down from Peter. He definitely had to get into Gryffindor now, and if he wasn't sorted there he'd sneak in.

"Potter, James!" James walked up to the stool, shooting Lily a quick blink before he sat down. She rolled her eyes in disgust.

"James Potter, eh? I see strange things about you… yes… you're definitely brave. A cut above the rest, I'd say. You'd definitely make a good Quidditch player… hmm… mm… ah, I've reached a decision… _Gryffindor!!!_" Applause erupted throughout the room as James stood up, leapt onto the stool, and began to dance.

"TAKE IT OFF!" Sirius yelled from the Gryffindor table. The room echoed with laughter, but it died quickly as the headmaster gave a sweeping glance around the room.

The woman who had called them yelled at James angrily and he jumped off of the stool, turning to see a strange look on the headmaster's face. It wasn't angry, but a little "disappointed", as well as amused. James smiled and danced his way to the Gryffindor table, sitting down between Sirius and Remus. The four of them all began to laugh about the stunt, and James shot a glance at Lily, who had been looking at him, but she turned away quickly as soon as he looked, nostrils flaring with anger.

"She'll come around…" Sirius said, nudging James in the stomach.

"Yeah, don't worry about it James! We're _Gryffindors_!" Peter shouted enthusiastically.

"Yeah, be proud!" Remus said, digging into a plate of chicken that had just appeared. Apparently, there was a speech, but they had been so busy having fun that they missed it. What important things could the headmaster have said?

After the feast, the first years all reported to their prefects and were led up to the seventh floor, where they were given the password and were let into the Gryffindor common room by means of the Fat Lady's portrait. It seemed warm and comfortable, with a nice fire and worn-out armchairs. It was all blazing scarlet or shimmering gold in color, aside from some rugs and paintings, and it shone onto the stone floors, casting a crimson glow all around their feet. Sirius dropped himself into one of the chairs by the fire and Remus sat down in a beanbag chair, opening a book that was left on the floor beside him. Peter began to look around and James started to search for Lily. He didn't see her, so she must have gone to bed already.

"So, James… what kind of trouble should we get into?" Sirius asked, staring up at his new best friend.

"Oh, all sorts," James said, looking around at the three boys who were watching him carefully, "we'll turn this place on its head."

"Hurrah!" Peter said, raising a fist in salute.

"C'mon guys, let's go to bed. I'm tired." James started towards the dormitories and was startled when his friends all stood up and followed him. "Wow, you're actually listening to me!"

"Why wouldn't we?" Peter asked, "I mean, after all, you are our leader."

"Yeah?" James asked, watching as the three boys nodded proudly. "Alright. Well first order of business… if we're going to be a group, we need a cool name… like the Troublemakers, or the Barbarians!"

"Ooh! I vote for Barbarians!" Sirius said excitedly.

"No, that's stupid…" Remus said, and James shrugged in agreement. Lupin thought for a few minutes and then snapped his fingers, "I've got it. I read it somewhere… the Marauders!"

"All right," James said, "what's it mean?"

"Well, to plunder and raid, but I figure it means to cause trouble in general. Since that's what we're going to be doing, I figure why not?" Remus smiled.

"Okay. When we wake up tomorrow morning, we are no longer Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter. When we wake up, we are the Marauders!" And thus began the beginning of the most important chapter in the history of magic.


	2. A Favor from Remus

**Chapter 2: A Favor from Remus**

**James Potter**

James awoke the next morning to see the faces of his three friends watching him. They were all smiling and had already dressed in their school robes. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, and with him they would now be called the Marauders.

"Mornin' James!" Sirius said happily, his long hair being pushed aside as he grinned from ear to ear.

"You three… never do this again. It's creepy…" James sat up and put his glasses on, bringing the room into better focus than before. Remus smiled and nodded at him.

"Get dressed," he said, "we have to be down to breakfast in ten minutes."

"Are you always going to be reminding us of anything in existence?" James asked, "If you are, let me know now. That way I'll know to strangle you before it gets annoying."

"Only when something important happens," Remus replied, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "At the moment, breakfast is important."

"Right you are, Remus," Sirius said happily, patting him on the back, "I'm starved."

"Don't they feed you well in Black Manor?" Remus asked jokingly.

"Oh no, my mum hates me. She just _adores_ Regulus though." Sirius turned around and ran his hands along his sides, imitating two people hugging and kissing each other.

"Who's Regulus?" Peter asked, chuckling at Sirius' impression. Sirius turned around and scowled darkly.

"My little brother. Foulest little thing to ever pop out of the devil," Sirius replied.

"Wouldn't that make you a son of the devil too?" James asked.

"Yeah, but I'm the nice one!" Sirius grinned. "Let's go eat!"

The Marauders arrived at the Great Hall a few minutes after breakfast started, but they weren't the only ones who were late. No one was angry with them, so they supposed it was "come as you please," which suited them very well. The Gryffindor table was roaring with laughter and brimming with excitement over the nearing classes. Some were debating about their favorite subject, while others were groaning about their least favorite.

James sat beside Sirius in front of a large plate of bacon and ham, while Remus and Peter sat on the other side of the table, calling dibs on a pitcher of pumpkin juice and a platter of eggs. After breakfast, which sped by quickly with all of the fun the Marauders were having, the strict woman from the night before began to give out schedules. Sirius checked his and screwed his face up in disdain.

"We've got Potions first… with Slughorn… who's that?" Sirius asked, peering up and down the staff table at the end of the room.

"The large one," Remus said, not looking up from his schedule.

"Oh! Is that a professor? I thought there was a walrus at the table… that clears things up a bit," Sirius did a double take as he found the person Remus was talking about. The four Marauders laughed at Sirius for a moment and continued to examine their schedules.

"All right," James said, "we'd better get a move on. Classes are in the dungeons, and I have no idea how to get there."

"Entrance hall," Remus said, providing more information that the others didn't know.

"How do you know all of this, Lupin?" Sirius asked, glaring at the boy.

"I read a book, a skill that you so far appear to lack," Remus replied. James chuckled at Remus' joke and pushed the doors of the Great Hall open, looking around for a door marked 'dungeons,' which he didn't find.

"Right here James," Remus said, pushing open a door nearby and ignoring Sirius' wand, which was pointed directly at his head.

As they traversed the dungeons, the boys found a queue of people outside of a door, all from Gryffindor house. James immediately stood behind the last girl in line, who just happened to be Lily Evans. James grinned and cleared his throat, adjusting the collar on his robes and running his hand through his hair. She turned around, then turned back quickly in disgust, emitting a furious sigh.

"Save it," she said, not bothering to even acknowledge his presence any further.

"You're so uptight… lighten up a little, have some fun!" James said, trying to get her to face him again. She didn't budge.

"Give it time, James," Remus said, patting him on the shoulder. Moments later, the dungeon door swung open and the walrus-like Professor Slughorn stepped out, smiling happily and beaming at his new students.

"Hello all!" he said aloud. "Welcome to Potions! We'll be in this classroom here, but I suppose you already figured that out. Now, inside, inside…"

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all sat down at one table, while Lily sat alone at a table nearby. James looked at her differently for a minute, noticing that nobody would go near her. He decided to keep her company and waved to the other Marauders, pointing at Lily and leaving to go sit with her.

"Why are you all alone?" James asked seriously, trying to stay as far from hitting on her as he could.

"I'd rather be alone than with you!" she said, glaring at him furiously. Slughorn was saying something apparently, but like the night before, James was too caught up in conversation to notice. He caught the words 'glory' and 'death' somewhere, but that was all.

"Hey, give me a break! I'm trying to be nice and keep you company so that people don't make fun of you," James replied, glancing at the rest of the class. None of them seemed to notice either of them was there. "Now tell me, why are you alone?"

"If you must know, it's because my friends all got sorted into Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff!" Lily continued to glare at him. James sighed.

"Lily…" he said.

"What?" she snapped quietly.

"Come on… come hang out with my friends and I. We aren't that bad," James motioned towards the others, who were laughing amongst themselves.

"The only person there I'd consider hanging out with is Remus! Sirius is just like you, and Peter is…" Lily stopped as she searched for words.

"Pete's weird, I know. He's loyal, though, and I know he'd never do anything to hurt the rest of us," James smiled.

"How can you be sure of that?" Lily asked, momentarily stopping her verbal war with James.

"Well, I can't, but I trust him. That's more than I could say of you. Do you trust _anyone_ but yourself?" James narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Not at the moment. I don't know anybody trustworthy. And don't start; I wouldn't even think about trusting _you_. You're too… pompous!" Lily snarled.

"Pompous? You're calling _me_ pompous? Look at yourself miss, 'I'm Too Good to Trust People!' You're just as stuck up as I am!" James whispered sharply, examining Lily's reaction with enjoyment.

"YOU? Say whatever else you want, but never, _ever_ compare me to _you_!!!" Lily was no longer whispering. The entire room was staring at them, including Slughorn.

"Is there a problem, Miss Evans?" he asked calmly, watching her turn dark red.

"Um, no, no problem here… sorry for interrupting." Lily hid her face, "Just go away Potter…"

"Whatever… I don't think I'd like to go out with someone like you anyway… you sure you don't want me to stay here with you?" James asked in a friendly tone.

"Go away…" Lily was still blushing when James left to rejoin the Marauders.

"What was that about?" Peter asked, looking at Lily.

"Yeah, why's she so angry about you comparing her to yourself?" Sirius asked him, paying even less attention to Slughorn than anyone else.

"She called me pompous… I haven't even done anything yet. What can she base that on?" James explained, questioning her logic.

"Well, there was that bit on the train, but that wasn't pompous…" Peter replied, digging for explanation, "and just outside the classroom."

"Well that's true," James said, shrugging, "but I still don't understand why she's alone. She said it's because her friends were sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, but…"

"Well, it's obvious," Remus said, speaking for the first time since class started. His paper was filled with notes that the others had failed to take.

"What? Why is she alone?" James asked, glad for some real insight.

"She's alone because her friends were sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw… if you insist on it being something else, she may as well be right about your pompousness." Remus licked his thumb and rubbed off a wrong letter, replacing it with the correct one quietly.

"I guess you're right…" James spent the rest of the class watching Lily scribble down notes and shoot him dark looks.

After class, the boys decided to head back to the common room to grab their other books. James caught Remus before they left the dungeons and pulled him aside, deciding to ask him a favor.

"Remus?" he asked, pulling the other boy into another corridor with him.

"Yeah James?" Remus replied innocently.

"I need to ask you a favor…"

"Don't worry about it. You guys can borrow my notes, I don't mind," Remus said, smiling and starting back towards the exit.

"Oh, I was going to do that anyway. I need something else."

"Sure. What do you need?" Remus stared at James quietly, waiting for a response.

"Well… hm… I don't know how to put this… It may sound a bit… rude, but it's not, I promise," James began. Remus' expression began to change, but he still stood there waiting, "Okay. Lily said that the only person she'd consider hanging out with of the four of us is you, and…"

"You want me to become her friend so that I can learn things from her and eventually turn her onto you? That way you can have a nice happy wedding and make Sirius your best man and eventual godfather of your child, leaving me in the dust?" Remus finished, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"Well… there were different words… but… yeah… would you?" James said, staring at his feet.

"Of course… I'm sure she'll be more intelligent conversation then Sirius… and she's not creepy like Pete… and I suppose if things don't work out between you two, I could always advance on her…" Remus said, gaining a blank stare with dark undertones from James.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," James said tonelessly, starting back towards the entrance hall, "but thanks Remus."

"No problem mate." Remus smiled and matched his pace.

**Sirius Black**

The rest of the day went surprisingly well, with the Marauders not paying any attention in their classes, save Remus, then leaving to go to another one. Currently, they were all in the Gryffindor common room doing miscellaneous things. Peter was staring blankly at the fire, mesmerized by the dancing flames, James was talking to Remus at a table near one of the windows, and Sirius was sitting in a beanbag chair, staring at a sock. Nobody looked at him strangely, already expecting odd behavior from him.

"I hate you, sock!" Sirius shouted, blinking suddenly.

"Sirius, how many times have I told you?" Remus asked from afar. "You will never win a staring competition with an inanimate object. I thought you'd've learned your lesson with the lamp…"

"Fine, have it your way Remus, with your _logic_…" Sirius put an angry emphasis on the word 'logic,' giving the sock one last glare before tossing it aside. Deciding to try and impress Remus for once, he picked up the book Remus had read the night before and began to read. Before long he consulted Lupin for help.

"What's this word?" he asked curiously.

"Sirius… the book is upside down…" Remus turned the book around and waved him off, continuing his and James' conversation. Sirius scowled and walked away, beginning the book again. Moments later, he went back to Remus.

"What's this word, then?" he asked.

"So if I just… It's 'the' Sirius… So if I just go and…" Remus said, barely interrupting his conversation again and continuing it just as simply. Sirius frowned.

"Oh… is _that_ how you spell it? That actually explains a lot…" Sirius rubbed his eyes sleepily and yawned. "Well, I'm going to head off to bed now. Good night, all!" Then he went off into the dorm to sleep.

"Something about these curtains…" he said once he was inside. He shivered and tore them off quickly, going to sleep in the only curtain-less bed.


	3. Severus Snape and a Great Idea

**Chapter 3: Severus Snape and a Great Idea**

**Remus Lupin**

Remus woke up before the other Marauders every day for the next three weeks. He had a reason, however; Remus had things to plan and things to do. Since James had asked him to become friendly with Lily Evans almost a month before now, he had had to study her habits closely, but from far away, before he could even think about becoming friends with her. She was the first to wake up in the Gryffindor house, well, the second after Remus began his rituals, and she always came down to the common room to read. Remus had taken the trouble to read all of the books that she did, so that he could start conversation well enough. Lupin strode over to her one morning and decided to break the ice.

"That's an amazing book," he said, nodding at the thing in her hands. Lily jumped in shock and stared wild-eyed at Remus.

"What d'you want? I'm not going to talk to James!" Lily flashed her 'James Glare' at Remus, who was taken aback.

"I'm not here about that. I've been telling James to get over you. No, I'm here to talk about books and intelligent things… things people like Sirius can't possibly comprehend." Remus smiled at her.

"You sure don't give Sirius a lot of credit," Lily said, closing her book and placing it on the small table beside her armchair.

"Well, neither do you. But, even with all the things I say about Sirius, he's a pretty good guy… he's loyal, determined… like a puppy," Remus chuckled and Lily smiled, becoming more and more impressed by this Remus Lupin boy by the minute.

"I suppose so. I still don't want to talk to them… so, about this book. Have you read it all yet?" she asked, picking the book up once more.

"Yeah, I read it through last night," Remus said, gaining a disbelieving look from Lily. "Oh, I had a lot of free time… Sirius, James, and Peter were copying notes, and they had a lot of trouble trying to figure out how to spell 'Wolfsbane'…" Lily giggled happily and Remus swallowed hard, reminding himself that he was doing this for James, not himself.

"Well, you're sure different than I had thought at first…" Lily looked into Lupin's eyes and smiled when he started to blush, "Who are you, Remus?"

"Well that's easy. Remus John Lupin, were-uh, Wimbourne Wasp fan," Lupin was cursing himself out in his head. Not only did he reveal his middle name, which he never told anyone, but he almost said 'werewolf,' his best-kept, most important secret. Dumbledore strictly said that nobody was to know about that.

"You like the Wasps?" Lily asked, suspicious of his momentary stutter.

"Well, I did. I couldn't think of anything to say…" Remus averted his eyes and stared around the room distractedly.

"You could say 'genius,' or you could say 'friend of Lily Potter'…" Lily put her hand over her mouth quickly, blushing deep crimson.

"I thought you said you despised James…? Yet, you're already wearing his surname?" Lupin smiled at her deviously.

"It slipped! I tried to say Lily Evans and James Potter at the same time… my mind was jumbled!" Lily tried her best to cover up her little slip.

"I won't tell him." Remus breathed slowly, attempting to tell himself that this was for the best and that he could find another girl like Lily.

"Thank you… hey, why don't we go down to breakfast together? You can meet my friends!" Lily stood up motioning for Remus to follow. Several people began to appear in the common room, all newly woken and heading down to breakfast themselves.

"Uh, I don't know… James might be angry…" Remus pondered the ramifications of his actions for a moment.

"Why would he be angry? He knows I don't like him…" Lily eyed Remus suspiciously. Lupin suddenly caught himself before he made another mistake and came up with a quick, but efficient, excuse.

"Well, he's still kind of bitter about it," Remus said, shrugging slightly.

"He's too pompous for his own good. Thinks that everyone should bow to him."

"What makes you think that? What event could have possibly given you sufficient reason to come to that conclusion?" Remus interrogated her on one of the key problems between her and James.

"Just the way he acts, the things he does and says, the people he hangs out with… except for you. Befriending you might be the one smart thing he's done so far," Lily said, covering up her attack on the Marauders when Lupin shot her a bitter glare.

"Well, fine. Let's go down to the Great Hall and you can show me these friends of yours…" Remus stood up and Lily smiled.

"Great, they'll be glad to meet you! You absolutely have to meet…"

**James Potter**

James woke up to silence in the Gryffindor boys' dorm. No one was standing around his bed staring at him. In fact, no one was in the room at all. He dressed and went out into the common room to see if they were all out there. There was still nobody there. Thoroughly confused, James decided to just go down to breakfast alone. He arrived minutes later to a full room, and as soon as he entered, it went quiet. Professor Dumbledore eyed him from across the room. James turned red all of a sudden and shot a sweeping glance along the Gryffindor table, looking for the Marauders.

"Did I… miss… something?" James asked, becoming redder and redder every second. The silence was unbearable, so James tried to steer attention away from his tardiness, "Is this the part where I dance?"

"No, Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore, looking over his interlocked fingers, "this is where you explain yourself."

"Explain what?" James had no idea what was wrong at the moment.

"Your blatant disregard for the life of this young student. He's come and told me that you attacked him in the halls and left him to die," Dumbledore motioned to his left, where a thin, slimy looking boy stepped out from behind the great headmaster's chair.

"What? I haven't touched him!" James shouted, recognizing Severus Snape from the train at once. Why was he doing this? James only bumped into him… if anything he should be soiling Sirius' name.

"That's a lie! You attacked me and I demand retribution!" Snape snarled angrily. Dumbledore gave him the slightest of quizzical glances before returning attention to James.

"Why would Severus have any reason to lie?" Dumbledore asked simply, holding up a hand to restrain Snape's answer.

"Because he's blowing things out of proportion! I bumped into him on the Hogwarts Express, but that's all," James told the truth for the first time in a while. It didn't taste good to him.

"I see. No further questions. Tuck in!" Dumbledore smiled and continued restraining Severus, who was spitting in fury.

"Why didn't you wake me?" James asked as he came up to Sirius and Peter.

"Well, Dumbledore said not to," Peter replied, shoving a piece of ham that was as big as his hand into his mouth. He had difficulty chewing it.

"Pete, don't eat like that. You'll be bigger than Slughorn in a month…" Sirius pointed his wand at Peter's mouth, uttering a spell that reduced the slab of ham into smaller, bite-sized pieces.

"Tank oo!" Pettigrew said, speaking around his food.

"Where's Lupey?" James asked. Sirius pointed up the table, where Remus was chatting animatedly with Lily and her friends. The boy turned around when he noticed that he was being watched, gave James a smile and a thumbs up, then turned back to the girls.

"What's he doing with your girl?" Sirius asked, chewing a roasted piece of bacon.

"Oh, he's trying to become her friend so that he can make her want me from the inside. You know, the stuff you and Pete aren't smart enough for," James grinned as the two boys shouted angrily, then began to choke on their food. "You two… honestly…" James pointed his wand at the two of them to cast another spell that sent their food shooting to their bowels.

"We'll be right back!" Peter said loudly, standing up straight with wide eyes along with Sirius, and they both bolted towards the entrance hall to find the nearest bathroom. James laughed quietly to himself and eyed his wand happily.

"I love that spell," he said, waving the object in his hand nonsensically.

**Remus Lupin**

Remus sat beside Lily, watching as she explained her approach to Professor McGonagall's newest form of torture: turning a hummingbird into a salt shaker. She said it was all in the wrist, and you had to put an accent on the incantation. Remus could only hold himself back a few minutes before interjecting, saying that her wrist movements were wrong. He apologized promptly for being such a prick.

"Don't worry about it Remus," she said, smiling at him happily, "we're here to learn, right? If we don't help each other, it's useless right?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right… I was wondering if you could look at my Potions notes later on? You seem a lot better at it than I am…" Remus asked, planning to drop a 'James Bomb' later on. He turned to see Lily's friends exchanging looks that made Remus want to turn back to Lily. She was blushing pink from the comment on her Potion prowess, and she had to wait a moment before responding.

"Of course I will… but really, I don't think I'm that good…" Lily took a slow spoonful of mashed potatoes and stayed silent the rest of the time. After breakfast, Remus was about to say something to Lily as they neared the entrance hall, but Severus Snape came up and started to complain about James to her.

"How can he just get off so easily with… what are you doing here? Go away you little--" Snape began, noticing Remus after a few moments.

"I believe I was talking to Miss Evans here. What are _you_ doing here?" Remus glared at Snape. He hadn't met Snape on the train, but his little stunt at breakfast made him hate Snape instantly.

"Same thing… she's my friend… she'd never like someone like you! Get going!" Snape shoved Remus, which made Remus point his wand at Snape's throat. Lily interrupted them before Remus could utter the foulest curse he could think of.

"Severus, please… I was talking to Remus first… I'll see you in a little while, okay?" she asked, pushing the two of them apart.

"Filthy…." Snape muttered as he walked away. Remus tuned out the disgusting words that followed.

"He's a right git interrupting our conversation… and after what he tried to pull! James hasn't even touched him… prick…" Remus scowled. "Wait, he said you two were friends… what's that about?"

"We are… sort of… he listens to me, you know?" Lily said, following Remus up to the top of the staircase.

"Probably just trying to get a peek of your delicates… well, whatever. I don't have anything to say to you at the moment, so go hang out with your slimy little boyfriend," said Remus, stepping up the stairs to the main staircase.

"He's not my boyfriend… I'd never even consider him." Lily frowned and Lupin turned back to look at her.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Severus whines too much… he's always complaining about James and you all… even though I despise him too, I don't see what you've done to him…" Lily sighed, walking with Remus again.

"Well, Sirius punched him. That's all though," Remus said.

"That'd do it for him… he makes too big a deal out of everything… that's what I like about you. You let everything slip by…" Lily said, smiling and leaning towards Remus.

"_Oh for goodness sakes! We're eleven!_" Remus thought, "_Is there no shame in the world?_"

"Like about me? You like something about me?" Remus asked, looking at her curiously.

"Well, don't get me wrong… you have some admirable qualities…" Lily blushed and continued walking, though she wasn't leaning on Lupin any longer.

"All right then… well, I should probably go and talk with the Marauders now… goodbye," said Remus as he stood outside the Fat Lady's portrait.

"The Marauders?" Lily asked.

"Oh, that's the name for our little group… I came up with it you know," Remus bragged, giving the Fat Lady the password and watching as the painting swung forward to reveal a gap in the masonry that led to the common room.

"How cute!" she said.

"Yes… I was aiming for cute… thank you… now, I really must go," Remus waved and crawled through the portrait hole.

"Guess I'll go sponge up Severus' tears then… bye," Lily waved back, looking slightly disappointed, but she rushed off down the stairs all the same.

**Peter Pettigrew**

Peter watched as Remus Lupin entered the Gryffindor common room and James rushed over to him. They began to whisper excitedly to each other, but Peter couldn't understand what they were saying. Sirius was sitting by the fire, replying to a letter that his mother had sent him at breakfast.

"What'd she say?" Peter asked, standing behind Sirius and looking down at the letter.

"I hate you, you pathetic little prick…" Sirius said.

"If you don't want to tell me, all you had to do was say so…" Peter frowned, beginning to walk away.

"No, that's what she said. See?" Sirius showed him the letter and Peter chuckled happily.

"My mum doesn't like sending letters… not much to say, you know? My parents and I don't talk much…" Peter looked at the fire distantly.

"Hey, we're here for ya Pete. No matter how much I make fun of you, you're still my friend," Sirius said, comforting Peter Pettigrew when he felt it was needed.

"Thanks. Me too. I'd rather die than hurt you guys!" Peter said proudly, sticking out his chest powerfully.

"That's the spirit, Petey! Loyal to the end!" Sirius and Peter began to chant 'Loyalty, loyalty!' merrily until lunch.

Peter followed the Marauders down to lunch when the bell had rung, echoing across the grounds of Hogwarts resolutely. The four friends ate quickly and decided to hang out by the lake. Peter liked when they went outside the most because he was most equal to them out there. It was difficult to explain, but he felt a lot braver outside in the sun than cooped up in the castle.

"Hey, Pete," James said, turning to face them under their tree, "d'you think I'd be good at Quidditch?"

"Quidditch? Yeah, definitely! You should try out next year!" Peter replied with a grin. His policy was to always agree with James and Remus, but occasionally disagree with Sirius, and it worked out fine most of the time.

"Alright… you guys back me up on it?" James asked the other two.

"Definitely!" Sirius said. Typical.

"Of course, James," said Remus. Remus didn't always agree with James, probably because he was the only person in the group who was capable of logic.

"So, I was thinking…" Peter said to no one in particular. Remus looked up from his book and the other two turned their heads to pay attention.

"Thinking? Pete? _No_… well, let's hear it," Sirius said. It was his way of showing genuine interest in Peter's thoughts.

"Well, I thought, you know, since we're going to be making so much trouble… that maybe, you know, we should make, like, a map or something… an enchanted one…" Peter suggested, hoping everyone didn't laugh. The opposite happened. The Marauders all turned around one hundred percent to give full attention to Pettigrew.

"Wow, that's actually a good idea Peter," Remus said, closing his book slowly.

"Yeah, Pete. You've been holding out on us!" James grinned.

"So, what would it do? Enchanted map?" Sirius asked, watching Peter curiously.

"I don't know… maybe it would show the secret passages and how to enter them… or maybe it would show all of the people in Hogwarts…" Peter shrugged, having not thought it this far through yet.

"Well, there's a problem right there," Remus said, "we don't know any enchantments to do all of that, much less any enchantments _at all_… besides, we wouldn't have the time! Plus, something like that ought to get confiscated… we could never take credit for it. I mean, I'm not trying to be mean Petey, but it's a really difficult thing to do…"

"Yeah… I just thought I'd give it a whirl…" Peter looked at the grass in discouragement. Remus and Sirius exchanged a look.

"Well, hey, it was a great idea Peter!" Sirius said, patting Pettigrew on the back.

"I'll tell you what, Pete," Remus said, "I'll write this down and start researching in my spare time, okay? That way, if and when I find something, because there can't _not_ be a spell that does that kind of thing, we'll start to work on it, okay?"

"Yeah! All right! I'll look too!" Peter said excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

"So, Pete…" James said.

"Yeah?"

"Want to go mess with Snape? You know, as a reward for an awesome idea? I'll let you cast the first _speeeeell_!" James grinned, waving his wand in front of Peter tauntingly.

"Yeah!" Peter stood up with the other three Marauders as they trekked across the emerald lawn that sparkled in the sun. They came across Severus moments later, sitting with Lily. He had taken his cloak off and James whispered a good jinx that he had read about into Peter's ear. Snape's hand began to creep towards Lily's.

"Get him, Pete," James and Remus said together. James looked at Remus curiously, and he only shrugged in reply.

"_Wedge Extremos_!" Peter shouted. Slowly, Snape's underpants rose out of his pants. So subtly that he didn't notice at all. Then, they quickly shot upward and hung themselves on Severus' extremely protuberant nose.

"AAAAUUUGGHHH!!!" he yelled in terror, being blinded by an enormous skid mark. The Marauders tried to keep composure, but it was too funny. They burst out laughing so hard that people on the seventh floor of the castle were looking out their windows in confusion. Everyone who saw this stunt began to crack up in wild laughter… except for Lily Evans, who glared at James and helped Snape with his underpants. Severus ran at the Marauders, wand drawn. "_Incendio_!" A small flame shot from the tip of his wand and sped towards the four boys. Remus yawned and pointed his wand forward.

"_Aguamenti_," he muttered in a bored tone. A jet of water erupted from the end of his wand and collided with the flame, becoming a mess of steam and nothingness.

"We can play any time, Sevy-snookums!" Sirius shouted. "Just remember to do your _laundry_ next time!" The Marauders and everyone else began to laugh at Snape as he tramped off angrily. Lily glared at the boys angrily before giving Lupin an especially disappointed look and darting off after Severus.

"That was awesome, Pete!" James said, shaking hands with him appreciatively. Peter smiled and laughed with his friends, glad to be more than a fourth wheel for once.


	4. Full Moon

**Chapter 4: The Full Moon**

**Sirius Black**

Sirius awoke several days after the Marauders' first attack on Severus Snape feeling refreshed and happy. Breakfast went by well for him and his friends (Sirius burned the letter from his mother immediately upon receiving it), and class began with a fun Charms lesson.

"Good morning, good morning!" squeaked Professor Flitwick when the Gryffindors had all been seated. Sirius smiled and paid attention for once, just because he was in 'that kind of mood.' "Today we're going to learn how to levitate objects with a simple spell." Ah, the payoff. Patience thus far revealed a great lesson. Sirius raised his hand.

"Could we, maybe, levitate _people_?" he asked innocently, shooting James and Peter a look that obviously spelled 'Snape' in a clear form, for they grinned and turned back to Flitwick for an answer. Remus was with Lily, as was normal recently, and he only sighed when Sirius asked this question.

"Well, no, I don't believe you could… I think you could levitate _me_, but I wouldn't want you to get any ideas or reason to… thus, we'll only be working with small objects and will work our way up form there, okay?" Flitwick smiled, but Sirius, James, and Pettigrew lost their cheery dispositions at once. Sirius smiled again and James looked at him quizzically, to which Sirius mimed throwing an object at someone, and James grinned again, repeating the message to Peter.

"Now," Flitwick began, "you all have your feathers, I presume? Yes? All right, the motion is a simple swish and flick, like so"- he demonstrated –"and the incantation, _Wingardium Leviosa_! Try it! _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

Sirius swished and flicked, then spouted the incantation, but his feather didn't budge. He looked across the room at Remus for assistance. The boy sighed and mimed the swishing and flicking, which Sirius repeated with no results, and Remus motioned that his feather wasn't going anywhere either, shrugging in apology. Sirius' partner, Wendell Hart, was trying to get Sirius' attention with quiet mentions of his name.

"Um, Sirius… Sirius… Si- uh Sirius… I… uh…"

"Wendell, what the bloody hell is so important?" Sirius asked angrily, turning to face the meek little boy, holding his wand in a position that made Wendell uncomfortable.

"Well, you see, your incantation is wrong," said Wendell nervously. He nodded at the feather.

"Oh really? How _should_ I say it, then?" Sirius looked at him, doubting that Wendell could possibly do any better than he.

"Well, let's go syllable by syllable, shall we? First is _Wing_, which is easy enough, then _gard_, which is also easily pronounced. Next is _ium_, which is just as it sounds. Now, _Lev-i-o-sa_. Got it?" Wendell smiled, urging Sirius to try it.

"All right, Wendell… it's time for your redemption… _Wingardium_ (swish!) _Lev-i-o-sa_!" With the flick of his wand, the feather began to soar towards the ceiling and Flitwick almost fell off of his stack of books once he realized who was casting the spell. "Huh… thanks Wendell, I owe you one."

"Don't mention it… but I will hold you to that…" Wendell looked at Sirius with a businesslike face.

"I'm a man of my word…" Sirius turned to look at Peter and James, both of which were trying to pick their jaws up from the floor. Sirius shot Remus a glance, and saw that he was having a laughing fit and pointing to Sirius' feather. Lily was in on the joke as well, as she was clutching her sides in giggles as well. Sirius grinned proudly until class ended later on.

"How'd you do it?" Remus asked as they all met in the stairwell before lunch.

"Wendell taught me. Watch," Sirius looked around for a poor, smaller kid nearby, swished his wand while muttering the incantation, and watched as the boy's books floated out of his hands and up, up, up, perching finally on a staircase high above them. Sirius quickly hid his wand and watched as the boy spouted a stream of curse words and stormed off angrily to collect his books. "Only problem is that I 'owe him' or something."

"Well, was it worth it?" Remus asked, attempting to cast the spell and succeeding marvelously in lifting that same boys books and moving them to the top of another staircase. Peter and James then began to take turns moving the books from staircase to staircase, just as the boy got close to them. They laughed quietly when he began to cry, but stopped all the same.

"Oh yeah, definitely… well, I suppose it depends on what he asks me to do," Sirius shrugged and began to lead them all down to lunch.

After they had eaten, the Marauders headed up to History of Magic, got some well-deserved rest, and trekked to Transfiguration, where their brains began to hurt. Sirius didn't want to ask Wendell for help again, so he tried to figure out how to change a dove into a belt on his own. Remus had figured it out within minutes and taught James and Peter how to do it before asking Sirius if he wanted help.

"No thanks, I can get it!" Sirius said, prodding the dove, which in turn cooed angrily.

"All right," Remus muttered in response, waving to Lily as she greeted him from across the room. Sirius muttered the spell again and did the motions that McGonagall had mentioned, and voila! A white belt now stood before him.

"Ooh! Fashionable!" Sirius said aloud, getting a round of laughter from the room.

"I'm kicking you out of the band, mate," said James. The Marauders laughed, as being 'kicked out of the band' for questionable clothing was a new inside joke of theirs.

"Oh, I did it without help Remus!" Sirius grinned, pointing to the belt proudly.

"What do you want me to say?" Remus asked. "Congratulations on doing exactly what you were supposed to do?"

"You're such a buzz kill, Lupin…" Sirius muttered.

**Peter Pettigrew**

The days passed quickly, with the Marauders learning new spells here and there and using them everywhere else on unsuspecting victims. Remus had been disappearing once every few weeks for some reason, but he was still keeping his promise in researching for Peter's map, James was still hitting on Lily, and Sirius was flaunting his new affinity for spell casting. Peter had nothing to do but help the other three with their tasks.

"Sirius, what are you trying to learn now?" Peter asked his friend one day, a week before Halloween.

"Oh, just a curse that puts your insides on your outside and vice versa…" Sirius said casually, turning a page. Peter winced and Sirius chuckled, "No, not really… everyone knows you can't do that till third year. Anyway, this is called a Summoning Charm… brings things to you… I hear that it's fourth year magic, but I want to give it a go right now, when I'm _good_. Something on the other end of the room… Remus' book! _Accio book_!" Sirius raised his wand, then a strange sound erupted as every book in the common room swarmed around he and Pettigrew and buried them both. "It needs work…" Sirius said as he pushed a book with _Miranda Goshawk_ written in silver lettering on the spine.

"Definitely…" Peter moved over to Remus, placing one of the books he pulled off of Sirius into his outstretched hand. Lupin flipped to the page and put half of his attention in Peter. "So, Remus… you've been ill a lot lately… why is that?" Remus fumbled his book suddenly and began to stutter.

"Ill? I… uh… I've been… I don't know… bad immune system?"

"Ah, okay!" Peter replied. Remus gave him a look that said 'Oh my god he _is_ that stupid,' but Peter didn't recognize it. "So… found anything?"

"Close… I found this one spell that can label things on a map, and it gives every person within an enchanted area a label… it's very complicated magic and it requires a potion to soak the parchment through with… I'd have to get Lily to help me with that bit… plus we'd still need the people themselves to appear on the map… I don't know Pete, give me time," Remus explained, waving Peter away to go see James.

"Hullo James!" Peter said.

"Go away Pete!" James replied, mocking Peter's excitement.

"Sorry…" Peter turned away from him and walked over to the fire, sitting in a chair and grabbing a chart that a fifth year had left on a table. "Hey! There's going to be a full moon on Halloween! How cool is that?" Nobody noticed that Remus twitched and looked up exceptionally quickly when Peter mentioned the words 'Full Moon'.

"Wow, that's pretty cool! Is anyone thinking what I'm thinking?" James asked.

"Befriend some werewolves?" Sirius asked, getting a look from Remus that made him suspicious for a moment.

"No! Bewitch the moon!" James pulled out his wandand pointed out the window, flashing a devious grin at his friends.

"Like how?" Peter asked.

"I dunno, I guess it's a little unreasonable…" James frowned. "Well, it was a thought."

"Maybe not, James," Remus said, snapping and motioning for him to look at the book he was reading, "it says here you could make any light-giving source give off a different colored light. You thinking…"

"Red?" James asked. Remus grinned.

"Alright… we should practice the spell then… we'll definitely need all of us to do it, if not more." Remus Lupin stood up and, still looking at his book, said the incantation while moving his wand in wild directions. The fire suddenly sent out a bright blue glow, rather than its typical orange warmth.

"Awesome, Remus, just awesome," Sirius grinned, pulling his wand out and getting closer to the book.

**James Potter**

Halloween came around a week later and Remus was absent again, like clockwork, leaving the three remaining Marauders to bewitch the Halloween moon themselves. Breakfast that morning was uncomfortable for the three boys, as they were all itching to get out by themselves and make the moon shine red. James especially couldn't contain himself.

"So, here's what we'll do. We'll be the last ones into the castle before the feast, and before everyone's in we start casting the spell!" James grinned at his simple plan.

"Yeah, that seems easy enough. Well, let's get going. I'm full and I want to mess with Severus," Sirius grinned and stood up from the Gryffindor table slowly, following James and Peter just as sluggishly.

They had just reached the castle doors when Lily Evans ran up and intercepted them. She looked worried and concerned about something, and James jumped right in, seeing a perfect opportunity. He attempted to hug her and said, "It's okay. I'm here now… don't worry…"

"Shove it!" Lily pushed him off of her and he waved apologetically. "Where's Remus? I haven't seen him at all today."

"Us either! You tell us if you learn anything… and likewise." James waved goodbye and pushed the doors open. Lily grabbed his arm and stared him straight in the eyes.

"Leave. Severus. Alone!" she said angrily.

"Why should we? After the rubbish he's pulled?" James pulled his arm free and continued down the stone steps of the castle.

"Because he goes whining to me about everything. Please, I don't want to have to deal with him tonight… I'm too busy with Remus," Lily said. She covered her mouth as soon as she said this, however.

"Oh, what? I thought you didn't know where Remus was? And you're _busy with him_? For Pettigrew's sake, Lily, we're eleven! Are there no morals in the world?" James glared at her.

"I meant that I was busy trying to learn something about him… don't blow it out of proportion," Lily said quickly, stalking off before James could strike another sentence on her use of the word 'blow.'

"The nerve of her…" Sirius muttered, following James down to the lake.

"And just for that, I'm messing with Snape…" James said, looking around, "Where _is_ that slimy little git anyhow?"

"_Accio Snape's Shoe_," Sirius muttered. Sure enough, Severus Snape appeared, being dragged along in the grass on his back by his left shoe. "Found him."

"It's gotten better," James said.

"Thank you," Sirius smiled.

"And just what do _you lot_ want? And where's Casanova?" Snape asked angrily.

"One: We want to make your life a miserable hell just for the fun of it. Two: Who?" Sirius replied simply.

"Ugh… Lupin… that foul little-"

"Hey, I'll be the one to say who's foul and who isn't, and you, my slimy little friend, are very foul," James pointed his wand at Severus and muttered an incantation, but before he had finished, Snape pointed his wand at James and sent him hanging in the air by his ankle.

"What's this? A nonverbal spell? You're beyond your years, Severus… I'll get you for that one…" James stared at him simply, trying to reach his wand on the ground, which was just out of range. Sirius kicked Snape in the arm and James dropped to the ground, straightening up quickly and brandishing his wand immediately. Snape only stood up and left abruptly, going to cry to Lily, James guessed.

"Well, who'd've thought that ol' Sevvy would know a nonverbal spell? I thought Pete here had a better chance, no offense." Sirius motioned to the third boy, who he now noticed was quite a bit pudgier than he had been at the beginning of the year. "Hey, Pete, have you been Power-Eating again? You look like you've gained a few pounds…"

"I got hungry a lot… I'm sorry…" Peter frowned.

"Don't worry 'bout it…" James shrugged and walked with his two friends until night fell.

**Sirius Black**

Sirius, James, and Peter gathered at the far end of the lake when the moon began to rise. Their little prank was about to be played and their names were sure to go down in some sort of history. The Whomping Willow was nearby, batting away at something that was moving around near it. It was probably a poor, unfortunate, also stupid, student.

"Okay, here we go, alright? The moon is right there… now, we all begin, in three, two… RUN!" Sirius shouted as the two boys began to raise their wands. They turned to see what he was looking at and saw that a large, furry creature was bounding towards them from the Whomping Willow at a quick pace.

"What the bloody hell is that?" James asked as they made for the castle.

"I think it's a werewolf! I've heard that they live in the woods!" Peter answered, jumping over a large rock in his way, albeit with difficulty because of his new weight. The werewolf was quickly catching up to them; they could see his eyes as faint glimmers in the night. James tripped over a tree root, but before the others could help him up, the werewolf was only yards away. It slowed down to get a good look at its prey, then stopped moving completely for a few moments.

"_Stupefy_!" came a cry from behind them. A large, red light sped past the Marauders and just missed the wolf, which ran away howling. Dumbledore emerged beside them, clutching a stitch in his side and breathing heavily. "_What are you doing out of the castle_!?"

"Well, you see sir," began Sirius.

"Save it… get back inside! You could have been killed! Twenty points from Gryffindor!" Dumbledore shouted, watching for a returning werewolf.

"What? Twenty? Come on! It's not like we _knew_ there was a vicious werewolf on the loose around campus…" Sirius pleaded, getting a half-nod from the headmaster.

"While that is true, you were still out later than you should have been… might I ask again what you were doing?" he asked.

"Well, you see, we wanted to do something fun for Halloween, and Remus found this spell that…" Peter began.

"Remus?" Dumbledore asked quickly.

"Yeah… Lupin, you know? He found a spell that changed the color light that something emitted… we wanted to make the moon shine red for Halloween…" Peter continued after being interrupted.

"How interesting… however, it's highly impossible to bewitch the moon… a nice effort though, and I commend you…" Dumbledore smiled.

"With points…?" Sirius asked.

"I think… thirty points, for an excellent prank…" Dumbledore winked and led the Marauders back to the castle, where Sirius retold the story to every soul who'd listen, changing it to make him the slayer of the werewolf. He was also shirtless. And muscular.


	5. Siriusly

**Chapter 5: Siriusly**

**Remus Lupin**

Remus awoke the next morning, groggy from his recent werewolf transformation, and trekked back to the castle in the cold morning air. He used the secret passage behind the portrait of Daphne Gilliod that led straight up to the seventh floor. He reached the Gryffindor common room moments later, the boys' dorm only seconds afterwards, then his bed a second past that. Peter Pettigrew stirred slightly as he threw himself on his bed, but other than that the room was still. Remus lay on his bed quietly, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully as he waited for the room to wake up.

A half hour after he had arrived back in Gryffindor, Sirius woke up, yawning loudly in his curtain-less bed. He reached for his wand, flicked it and muttered an incantation between great expulsions of breath, and a vase of water beside his bed rose into the air. It hovered over towards James' bed, tipped, and poured freezing cold water onto the Potter boy.

"SIRIUS BLACK I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU!" James shouted as he woke. He put his glasses on and noticed Remus beside him immediately, a presence that wasn't normally in the dorm when he woke up. "Oh, hello Remus. Mind helping me?"

"Not a problem, mate," Remus said, standing up and drawing his wand in unison with James. Pettigrew woke up and joined the action.

"Oh, now Petey? Man… I had better run," Sirius muttered sarcastically, casting a mock-fearful glance at Peter, who frowned in response. Pettigrew flicked his wand and a jet of light shot out of it, knocking Sirius back onto the ground.

"Fear me. Please, do," said Peter, who was smiling proudly.

"Oh yeah? How would you like to be 'Peter Pettigrew, sans manhood?'" Sirius asked, pointing his wand at Peter's pajama bottoms.

"Oh come on, we're just messing around…" Remus said, waving his hands to interrupt the duel, "you'd've done the same thing."

"Oh, speaking of what I'd've done," Sirius began. Peter and James sighed, plugging their ears in annoyance, gaining a curious look from Remus.

"What?" Remus asked.

"Did you hear that I killed a werewolf last night?" Sirius asked excitedly. Remus smiled playfully.

"Oh did you?" he asked in return. Sirius recounted the whole tale, including his exaggerated bits, and like all of his stories, by the end, Sirius had somehow lost his shirt.

"Sirius, I doubt that you killed a werewolf… highly…" Remus said, pulling a pair of robes on as he spoke. Sirius frowned.

"How can you possibly think that?" Sirius asked angrily.

"_Well, I'm still here, aren't I?_" Remus thought

"You're right, I can't know. I'm sorry for doubting you and your incredible levitating skills," Remus replied sarcastically.

"Well, thank you. Ooh, let's go to breakfast… I want to see what the elves made today," Sirius grinned, chatting with James and Peter about the feast the night before. Remus frowned sadly. Would this curse he had, this… werewolf thing… would it make him miss all of the fun things his friends could do? Would he be left behind because of some event that was out of his hands?

Remus lurked in the common room for a while that morning, skipping breakfast entirely because his recent thoughts had displaced his appetite. Lily had apparently skipped breakfast too, as she came out of the girls' dorm rubbing her eyes exasperatedly. She looked happy once she saw him sitting there, though, and she ran down to sit on his lap.

"Good morning Remus!" she said, sitting down quite hard, causing Remus to bite his lip in pain (any guy worth his money would know what I'm talking about.)

"Morning… Lily…" he gasped. She stood up.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I just… I haven't seen you recently and… ooh! Where _have_ you been?" she asked, moving her hands frantically. Remus waved off her apology and adjusted to get comfortable again, waiting for the pain to ride out.

"Sick…" he managed.

"Well, while you've been _sick_, I've been stuck with Severus Snape, who's been crying his eyes out because I talked to you instead of him, and he thinks I like you, but… oh, he's so frustrating!" Lily sat down in a beanbag chair beside Remus and buried her face in her hands, sighing deeply.

"Well, do you?" Remus asked, forgetting his obligations for a moment.

"Remus, please… this is not the time," Lily muttered, not taking her face from her hands. Remus shrugged, glad he didn't have to undergo an uncomfortable conversation.

"All right. Well, what do you want me to do for you?" he asked.

"Well, let me cry on your shoulder, for one," Lily said, getting up to sit on his lap again, but edging down carefully this time. Lupin felt his shoulder get considerably damper within the minute, and he stroked her hair. James and the other two blathering idiots walked in, quieting immediately. Remus motioned away and mouth 'Go away. She needs consoling' and James obliged, ordering the Marauders out silently.

"What's wrong, Lily?" he asked.

"Well, there's so much pressure right now… with all of the homework I've gotten stuck doing…" she began, but Remus stopped her.

"It shouldn't be too much… unless… Lily?" Remus looked at her knowingly.

"All right… I might have promised to do some friends' homework… like Patricia Headey's… and Severus'…" Lily began to count off the many people who she had agreed to cover for. Remus had to use a ladder to pick his jaw back up.

"Bloody hell, Lily! It's no wonder you're stressed!" Remus pulled her off of him and stared at her in bewilderment. "Look, I'll help you do some of it, but here's an idea: Severus Snape can do his own homework. He's smart. He makes his own spells… hey, could you do me a favor? Since I'm helping you with this, could you try and get those spells from him? I quite liked that one he used on James… you know, where he hung by his ankles?"

"Speaking of…" Lily pursed her lips, about to deliver a lecture, "why would you do those things to Severus? He hasn't… well, alright, granted he _has_ done a few things to you all, why don't you just call it even by now?"

"Because _he_ won't. Even if the four of us stop hexing him in passing, you really think little Snivellus -(_Mental note_, Remus thought, _Snivellus is a good nickname_)- is going to stop shooting his brand-name spells at us? Besides, someday he could make something really dangerous someday! It might end up hurting one of us _badly_," Remus delivered his speech powerfully, leaving Lily without a response.

"Well… um… alright, you're right, but… try not to be so _cruel_ about them… Snivellus… oh, now you've got me saying it… Severus was crying his eyes out that day…" Lily said, lowering her head onto Lupin's chest exasperatedly.

"So, about the spell?" Remus asked.

"Alright, I'll get it if I can, but if he's not willing…" Lily trailed off.

"Flaunt your body!" Lupin said before he could stop himself.

"Excuse me?" Lily shouted, extremely taken aback.

"I mean, most boys with Sevvy's raging hormones would do anything if a girl bent over in front of him… pretend you dropped a quill… he'll tell you _everything_…" Remus decided that he'd dig himself deeper and explain it rather than try and save himself. Rather than be further offended, Lily began to think about it.

"You think he would? D'you think I'm that attractive?" Lily asked, half suspiciously, half curiously.

"Uh… I… of course you are! But, this is hardly the time to talk about that…" Remus blushed deep red, and stared around the common room distractedly. Lily smiled.

"Would _you_ go nuts if I bent over?" Lily asked, standing up.

"No, of course not!" Remus said defensively, "I have morals!"

"Not even… like _this_?" Lily bent over in front of him and he leapt backward over the chair. Remus dashed to the boys' dormitory and slammed the door shut.

"_We're ELEVEN!!!_" he thought furiously as he went to sit on his bed and vent.

**James Potter**

James stepped away from the door clutching his ribs in pain. He hadn't laughed so hard in a week. Sirius was laughing so hard that he failed to notice the staircase, and subsequently took a little tumble down to the fifth floor after backing too far down the corridor. Peter wasn't laughing, but instead looked seriously at James.

"Do you realize what just happened?" Peter asked him, glancing over at the staircase now and then to see if Sirius had managed to climb back up.

"The funniest thing I've heard in ages, tha's what!" James was up against the wall opposite the painting of the Fat Lady, who was always having a fit of giggles.

"James, he just… you know what, I'll let you find out for yourself," Peter said, deciding not to complicate James' simple little mind. Sirius had climbed back to the top of the staircase, wiping tears of intense laughter from his eyes.

"How'd it go, Sirius?" James asked.

"Oh, not bad… passed a couple third year Hufflepuffs on the way up… thought I was mad or something…" Sirius stared back at the staircase blankly.

"But you are," James replied casually, as though this wasn't news. It wasn't, in fact.

"Well yeah, but they don't know that."

"They do now," Peter replied. The other two nodded in agreement.

"Hufflepuffs'll fear you now, Sirius. You should take advantage!" James said, seeing an excellent opportunity.

"Oh no, we are _not_ becoming the Italian Mafia again… that last time… total disaster," Sirius shook his head warily and rejected James' idea.

"Well, yeah, but who'd've known that that Prewitt person had older brothers?" James asked in response.

"Anyone who would've bothered to check," Peter said. The other two hung their heads and decided to go back into the common room and catch up on current events.

**Sirius Black**

A few days had passed since the 'Remus/Lily' incident had occurred, and the Marauders were busy not paying any attention at all to Professor Binns in History of Magic. A slip of parchment was being passed between the four of them, providing an interesting conversation.

Peter, _James_, **Sirius**, Remus

_So, Sirius, how's that mum of yours doing?_

**Who can say? If she's doing well, I'll be upset and think that my father's not trying.**

Why don't you like your mother, Sirius?

**Oh no reason… except that she's an old muggle-hating hag that birthed Regulus Black, the foulest git in the world.**

She birthed you, too, Sirius.

**And?**

Never mind…

_Yeah, Peter, we've been over this…_

Oh yeah… sorry…

She hates muggles? Why?

**The Black family is Pureblood.**

Ah. That explains everything.

_Hey, Sirius, I think you should come stay with my family sometime this summer._

**Seriously?**

_Siriusly._

Shut up… you git… I'm not a git, you're a git. If you don't calm down I'll have to start taking notes! YOU WOULDN'T! 

_I might._

What's so bad about taking notes?

_I'll let you think about that one. Let us know when you figure it out._

**Yeah, you think someone knows you… Yeah… Siriusly… Shut the hell up!**

_Can't._

**Why not?**

Because we aren't talking.

**Who asked you, Pete? I ought to hex you, too!**

I'm SO scared…

_Hey, does anyone know how the four of us are writing a note like this? It's nearly impossible to write responses between four people…_

Well that's a damned good question, James.

Siriusly.

**Dammit Pete…!**

_Here's how we explain it to the angry mob of people… magical parchment._

**Yeah, magical parchment. Suck it, fans.**

Sirius, stop breaking the fourth wall.

_Siriusly. It's not even funny anymore._

**Yeah, James, you're going to be the first one of us to die!**

_Subtle…_

Sirius isn't known for his brains.

**Pete I swear on my mother's grave, which I hope there is one when I get home, I will kill you!**

Not if I kill you first!

Knowing you Peter, you'd probably chicken out and _pretend_ to be killed by Sirius, disappearing for a long period of time while Sirius gets sentenced in prison.

…_Bloody hell, Remus…_

**Siriusly.**


	6. Christmas at Hogwarts

**Chapter 6: Christmas at Hogwarts**

**James Potter**

James woke up the morning of Christmas Eve feeling tired and happy. He had all of his friends, the Marauders, he was having fun with them, and he knew they would never betray him. Remus was sleeping in the common room after a long night of talking to Lily, Sirius was dozing in the bed beside James, half falling off, half hanging on, and Peter Pettigrew was putting on a pair of boots quietly on his other side.

"Where're you going so early?" James asked sleepily, stifling a yawn.

"Oh, nowhere," Peter replied, jumping slightly as he noticed James lying there.

"Yeah, and I'm Sirius' uncle…" James replied sarcastically.

"No… no mummy… no, don't feed me to the petunias…!" Sirius muttered in his sleep, tossing and turning and, as a result, falling completely onto the cold, stone floor.

"Well, I'm glad your mum didn't let those flowers eat you Sirius," James joked, "would've been a nasty mess for the house elves to clean." Peter chuckled as Sirius glared darkly at the two of them.

"Watch yourself, Potter," Sirius muttered, picking himself up and yawning loudly, stirring the entire dormitory.

"Was that a threat?" James asked, pulling his wand from his bedside table.

"No… just… come on, man…" Sirius stretched and began to get changed into his robes and such. James followed suit and a few moments later, they were in the common room, prodding Remus awake with their wands.

"Stobbit!" Remus groaned, batting them away with his hand.

"Wake up Remus. It's Lily…" Sirius said in a mock-girl voice. The other Marauders stifled their laughing fits. Remus smiled and relaxed. "Remus… I'm pregnant." Remus sat bolt upright, and seeing his friends, scowled hatefully. Peter was on the ground, clutching a stitch in his side as he laughed his little heart out.

"Pull yourselves together," James said, trying to contain himself as well, "we're going out."

**Sirius Black**

The Marauders arrived outside in the chilling cold of winter a few minutes later. Snow was falling from the gray sky above, coating the ground in a blanket of white. Several students were running around in glee, bewitching snowballs to fly at each other or, in the case of younger students, throwing them the old fashioned way. Sirius frowned as a second year's snowball spiraled out of control and hit him in the side of his head. He felt perfectly justified in bewitching that boy's clothes to up and fly away, leaving him shivering in his undergarments.

"Good one," said James, who watched as the clothes flapped higher and higher like birds, finally perching contently on the room of the tallest tower.

"I'll get you for that one, midget!" shouted the second year, sprinting off to the castle angrily and clutching his trousers as though worried Sirius might bewitch them next.

"Where'd you learn how to do that?" asked Peter, who stared at the castle doors, having not taken his eyes from them when the boy sprinted in.

"I figured we could do that to Snape when we get the chance, and I read it in a book." Sirius grinned, ignoring the genuinely shocked gasp from Remus, who stared at him in wonder. "Shut it, Remus."

"Oh, that put me in my place," Remus muttered sarcastically, turning to face James and Peter, "honestly Sirius, it's like you aren't even trying anymore. It's no fun when you don't retaliate well enough. I feel like I failed as a tormenter…"

"Still more encouraging words from the brilliant Remus Lupin," Sirius responded, shaking his head and scouting for Snape. Remus smiled and patted him on the back brotherly.

"See, now I feel like you care! I really felt the sting of that one! Great job Sirius," said Remus proudly, assisting Sirius in his search. "Where is Snivellus, anyway?" he asked, subtly plugging his new nickname into the question.

"Snivellus? Good one," said James, raising his eyebrows in amusement. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen him recently… Remus?"

"No, Lily hasn't told me. I think she wants us to lay off of him for a little while… or at least, not be so cruel," said Remus, shooting a pointed look at Sirius.

"What?" Sirius asked, giving him an innocent look in return. "Oh come on, just one more time? This one's really good! I actually read a _book_ for this one! It only had three pictures in the whole thing!"

"All right, fine, but if I don't come back tonight, you'll know why," said Remus, sighing and rubbing his eyes exasperatedly. A snowball went whirring an inch from his face and he turned to punish the culprit, wand out, only to find that it was a far larger Slytherin with long, blond hair and a cold stare.

"Hey, Sirius," James said, tapping him on the shoulder, "isn't that Narcissa's boyfriend? What was his name… Lucius?"

"Oh, yeah, that's Lucius… don't tell her I told you, but she calls him _Luscious_… I think it's quite funny," Sirius smiled, waving at Lucius, who only sneered in return and turned back to his friends, a group of rather large Slytherins, much like himself. A tall Hufflepuff sixth year leapt backward into the Slytherin's, catching a Quaffle that had been thrown in their direction, and Sirius turned grimly as the sky flashed hundreds of colors while the Slytherin's hexed every inch of the poor boy.

"Never stood a chance," Peter muttered, turning around slowly and gasping, "it's Snivellus! Look, there, on the lake!" Indeed, as Peter had said, Severus Snape was skating on the ice of the frozen-over lake below. Sirius grinned, unsheathing his wand again and walking down towards the lake. Remus sighed and followed reluctantly, while James cracked his knuckles and made his way down beside Pettigrew.

Every student they passed turned to stare at them, as the face on Sirius' face was bloodthirsty and intimidated some of the older students, as well as causing a small Ravenclaw boy to wet himself in fear. Peter watched in disgust as the snow around him turned yellow and the boy began to cry. Remus shuddered.

"_Avius!_" Sirius cried when they got close enough to see Snape's face, waving his wand purposefully. Severus' pants tore themselves from his unwilling legs, throwing him face-first into the ice. His winter robes unbuttoned themselves as he tried to stand up, fluttering a few feet above his head along with his pants, and his shirt and sweatshirt joined them soon after. So there Severus was, nearly naked, sitting on his scantily clad behind on the frozen lake. Chill set over him seconds later and he stared wide eyed around as students all around him began to point and laugh at him.

He began to feel a fear and anger so deep that it mixed and became a hatred of the Marauders so pure that he swore he would murder them in their sleep. It was too late that he realized he had imitated the poor Ravenclaw boy and made banana-flavored ice. Sirius pointed at him and laughed louder than everyone else. Remus was the only one who wasn't laughing. He was watching Lily's infuriated expression as all of this unfolded, finding that as far from funny as anything could be.

"What did I tell you about doing your laundry, Snivellus?" Sirius asked mockingly, still laughing aloud. That was the last straw. Lily Evans walked angrily towards the Marauders and reached them in a matter of seconds. Everyone stopped laughing immediately.

"Remus, a word!" she demanded, pulling him away from his friends rather powerfully. Remus had no choice but to follow. At that moment, everyone turned away in disgust as Severus' underpants slid off of his person and floated up with the rest of his clothes, which had begun circling him like vultures.

**Remus Lupin**

"I'm sorry, Lily!" Remus apologized, pleading with her in futility. She glared at him worse than she had ever glared at James. Lupin stopped talking immediately, deciding it was better to wait it out and not make it any worse than it was already.

"Sorry? SORRY? You're sorry, Remus? I told you to lay off of him! You deliberately disobeyed me! This has to be the worst thing that you've done to Severus yet! What do you have to say for yourself? Huh!?" Lily's fury was penetrating every corner of Remus' being and tearing apart every nerve he had that helped him stand there without keeling over.

"_Ah the hell with it… might as well explain myself,_" Remus thought, taking a deep breath and preparing for the worst he could think of.

"Well, in my defense, _I_ didn't do it, Sirius did," Remus replied. Lily opened her mouth to retaliate further, but Remus spoke again quickly, "_but_! We didn't even think that much was going to happen. We just thought his cloak was going to go off, maybe his sweatshirt. Sirius must've done something by accident… trust me, we had no intention of doing that much. Nobody wants to see Severus Snape naked." Lily gave an involuntary huff that sounded like a short giggle. She let out a deep sigh before responding to Remus.

"Alright… but you still shouldn't have done something like that in the first place! Go and apologize, okay?" Lily looked at Remus hopefully, and he stepped back reproachfully.

"Apologize? To him?" Remus looked at her, and her face didn't change in the slightest. It still looked at him solemnly, pleading for him to say two simple words to the boy whose life they had just ruined. The face he was looking at looked beautiful in the snow, her blazing red hair stood out in the white snow around them. "Okay," Remus said finally. How could he refuse to that face? "I'll do it, but I know _they_ won't…"

"That's all I ask…" said Lily, smiling for the first time that day. Remus adjusted the fastenings on his cloak and bit his lip thoughtfully.

"So… when do I have to do it? Please don't tell me now… I have a sort of policy about talking to naked, crying, urine soaked people… especially if they're people who've recently wronged my friends," Remus said, looking around the snowy grounds nervously, hoping to Merlin that Snape's unclothed, soiled body didn't come running for Lily's console.

"No, not right now," Lily giggled, looking at Remus with a satisfied expression, "after lunch. We'll meet on the steps in the Entrance Hall, alright?"

"Yeah, okay… bye Lily… and, sorry…" said Remus, waving solemnly.

"Not to me, to Severus," Lily replied, walking away proudly. Remus watched as she marched up to the castle by herself, going off to do something she didn't want to do, just because Remus had made a mistake in letting Sirius go through with his torture.

"So, how'd it go?" James asked, coming up behind him without warning. Lupin jumped, startled by his friend's sudden appearance. He shrugged and began to trek up to the castle with the other three boys.

"Well, I have to go apologize to Severus for you three," said Remus, "and you're lucky I'm not making you three come too."

"You're apologizing for us?" Sirius asked, "Oh come on. We'll go too! We're the ones that did it."

"Yeah, but Severus is a little whiny git, and I doubt he'd want to see you guys after that," Remus replied, shaking all of the snow off of himself as they entered the warm foyer. Several decorations hung about the room, glinting gold or silver in the firelight of the many torches set around the room.

"I suppose… so, when are you going to do it?" James asked, pulling his cloak off and slinging it over his shoulder. The other three copied him and Remus bewitched them all to follow the boys up to the common room.

"After lunch," Remus muttered in response to James' question. They were all quiet until they reached the common room, where Remus threw himself onto a plush armchair and attempted to sleep.

James shook Remus awake a few hours later, telling him that lunch was about to begin. Lupin yawned loudly and stood up to stretch, trying to remember the details of his dream. He had just learned that he was no longer a werewolf, then house elves started to throw him into the air chanting his name, and the rest of the time he was being chased by a piece of toast named Gubbly.

"Do you guys know any pieces of toast named Gubbly?" Remus asked of his friends as they walked down the moving staircases to the Great Hall. James pondered the question carefully, Peter looked at him blankly, and Sirius shot him a quizzical glance.

"No, I don't think I do," James replied after several moments, "why?"

"I'll have to keep an eye out then…" Remus said, making a turn into the archway that opened up into the Entrance Hall. James opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again and shrugged, deciding it better not to ask.

Lunch went by slowly and painfully, the Marauders spent the whole time trying to come up with different ways to apologize to Severus Snape. Remus could only eat a few bites of his sandwich, and Peter snatched the rest of it up without even asking first. James told him to say as little as possible without seeming half-hearted, but Remus told him that that would upset Lily, something that they didn't want to happen. The clock chimed one o'clock and the few remaining students began to make their way out of the Great Hall to go study or play chess until dinner.

Remus waved goodbye to the Marauders and walked over to the two students on the staircase as though he was marching to the gallows. Severus glared at him reproachfully, and Lupin just stared, not giving him the satisfaction of any real emotion. Lily cleared her throat loudly.

"Remus, do you have something to say to Severus?" she asked sweetly, as though she didn't expect an answer.

"Yes Remus, you foul little cockroach! Do you have any words to say to me? Perhaps an apology is due?" said Snape sneeringly, gaining a taken aback look from Lily.

"Excuse me?" she asked. Remus opened his mouth to apologize to Severus fair and square, but Lily stopped him. "Remus came here to apologize on behalf of the Marauders and _this_ is how you treat him? I'm beginning to think you deserved what you got, Snape! Get out of my sight!" Lily waved him away furiously, causing him to glare at Remus angrily and stomp off to the dungeons.

"Look, I could have just apologized… that was no big deal. I've heard much worse…" Remus said, staring at the spot in the air that Severus had just inhabited. Mocking calls of 'half-breed' surfaced in his mind and his face grew quiet and sad.

"He had no right treating you like that when you actually tried to apologize… you know what? I don't think I'm going to let him cry to me anymore… anytime he has a problem, it's just that, _his_ problem." Lily lifted her shoulders proudly and Remus smiled.

"Good for you, Lily. Stick it to the man! The… greasy, slimy man… oh, did you get that spell from him?" Remus asked, remembering that he had asked Lily a favor a while before.

"Oh, yeah, I did. It's really neat… you have to give Severus some credit for that, at least," Lily said, proceeding to teach Remus how to use the spell. Remus thanked her after she had taught him how to use it, and off he went to the Gryffindor common room to teach it to the Marauders.

**James Potter**

Remus arrived in Gryffindor House a few minutes later, deciding not to take shortcuts in order to practice the spell on unsuspecting passersby. It worked wonderfully the fourth time he tried it, and he felt confident in his abilities again as the portraits on the walls all stared in amusement at the random students who were now hanging in midair by their ankles.

"Hey Remus!" James said, pushing an open chair towards him with his foot. Remus shook his head and brandished his wand.

"I've got something to show you guys! We have to wait for everyone to leave though," said Remus. They waited an hour for the common room to clear out, and once it was Remus stood up and pulled his wand back out. "Pete, come here a moment, please." Peter obliged and stood still as the other three boys looked at him.

"What?" he asked, watching Lupin carefully. Remus pointed his wand at Peter and blinked, and the next moment Peter was dangling from his ankles. "What just happened?"

"Whoa! Is that Snivellus' spell? The one he used on me?" James asked, rushing over to Remus excitedly. Lupin nodded and taught them all how to use the spell.

"Just point at your target and think _Levicorpus_." James pointed his wand at Sirius and thought "_**Levicorpus**_." Sirius Black's hair was touching the ground, and James likened him to a dirty feather duster.

"It's like Christmas has come a day early!" said Sirius, grinning happily.

They all practiced the spell for the rest of the night, even going through dinner without noticing it, and used it on passing Gryffindors as they entered the common room after their meals. Since it was a nonverbal spell, nobody suspected them of using it, except for Lily who held her shirt down and chewed Remus out.

"Sorry," he replied apologetically, "didn't realize…" They all went to bed that night feeling fulfilled and excited for the next morning, which brought even more surprises.

"Wake up, Jimmy!" Sirius' voice pierced the darkness of James' sleep. James Potter opened his eyes reluctantly and looked at the pile of presents at the foot of his bed. He leapt into them and tore at the wrapping paper like an animal, finding several interesting books, a few letters from family (containing a few galleons), sweets, and some clothes.

"Hey, James, why don't you open that one?" Remus asked, pointing to a large white box beside him. James shrugged and picked it up.

"It's just clothes…" he said, shaking the box and examining it half-heartedly. He looked around the room and noticed that Peter was just watching them, sitting on his bed with his arms around his knees. "You already open your presents, Pete?"

"Huh?" Peter asked. He had been in a sort of trance-like state, staring at them. James could've sworn he saw a sad envy in his eyes before he snapped out of it. "Uh, yeah. They were great… I got… uh… clothes… and, uh… books…"

"Pete…" James muttered. "Here, you can open this if you want." James threw the white box at Pete, who grinned and tore the string off of the box greedily. James bit into a pumpkin pasty.

"Whoa!" Pete said loudly, "James! You're so lucky!"

"If it's something you like and it fits you, you can have it… I'm sure my mum won't mind…" James said, not looking up from his candy. His mother would understand that he gave it to a friend who hadn't gotten any presents for Christmas.

"You're gonna want this!" Peter said excitedly. "It's an invisibility cloak!" James started to choke on the candy that was just in his mouth. Remus waved his wand and James was in the air, which actually helped the pasty slide out of his throat. Once he landed, James turned to look at the pudgy boy who was quickly crossing the room. James grabbed it when Peter held it out to him and swung it around himself. His lower body disappeared as the silky robe fell around it and he marveled at the stone floor that used to be his feet.

"Whoa! My dad must've had to pull a lot of strings to get this…" James' mouth hung open in amazement, and he handed it to Peter, "here. You can mess with it for a while. I don't mind."

"Really?" Peter asked, looking at him in disbelief. James winked.

"Yeah, if you aren't too busy with your _other_ presents, that is." James smiled and Peter mouthed 'thank you' before he donned the cloak. "Hey! Don't try going into the girls' dorm."

"I won't, bye!" And Peter was out the door to cause trouble that he couldn't be blamed for. Remus smiled at James and put his book down.

"That was really nice of you, James…" Remus said, "I'll be sure to let Lily know about that… She'll be really pleased."

"Yeah?" James asked, looking up from his cauldron cake.

"Of course," Remus replied, grinning, "one good deed deserves another, right?"

"Right," James said, smiling at his friend. All the while, Sirius had his fingers in a cardboard tube that his brother had sent him and was unable to get them out. His fingers were trapped in the Chinese Finger Trap the entire day.


	7. Deathly Hallows Aftermath

The Aftermath of Deathly Hallows 

Well, I think it's safe to say that, after this final book, I'll need to rethink, rebuild, and restart… so, this version is henceforth cancelled, and the new Marauders will be up soon. How soon, I'm not sure, as I have to completely rethink James, Sirius, Peter, Remus… Lily, Snape… Petunia… yeah, I'm definitely going to have to start it over.

In the Aftermath, I will, however, have new things. And here I'll tell you.

_Marauders_: I will finish it… eventually…

_Christopher Wilde_: American School, dark plot, lovable characters… you'll see.

_Enough Trouble:_ Post Deathly Hallows, Pre Epilogue. Just to get away from the harsh, dark, action, and get into calmer water.

_A Summer to Remember_: One Summer Holiday spent at the Burrow. Dunno when, but somewhere.  
So, there you have it. That's what I'll be up to.


End file.
